Category: Daily Devotionals

Making Others Listen

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Then he dreamed another dream and told it to his brothers and said, “Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?” Genesis 37:9-10

When Joseph shared his first dream with his brothers, it didn’t go well. They despised him for it.  So why in the world would he go ahead and tell them his second dream? Perhaps, in his enthusiasm, he just couldn’t help himself. Maybe his strong desire for their respect drove him to it.  He was young after all and obviously impetuous. He wanted their love, the same kind that his father felt for him.

I can be so much like Joseph and make the same mistake.  When I’m excited about something, I want to tell someone. I hope others close to me will share my joy but when I open up indiscriminately, rejection is often the outcome.  Chances are, this has played out poorly before.  It’s a family pattern.  So, why do I put myself through this over and over again?  Maybe my need for approval is so strong that discretion goes out the door. Or, I suffer from magical thinking. “This time will be different.  I know they’ll listen!”

Sharing my passion with the same group of unreceptive people, believing they’ll eventually get it, is unwise. While I’m talking, they may be rolling their eyes. That never feels good.  For whatever reasons, they are simply closed-minded and it would be wise for me to acknowledge that.  I need divine restraint.  I need to stop talking out of personal need rather than holy mission.

A season of quietness and prayerfulness is needed. God needs to heal the rejection my soul suffers. He also needs to show me if my words are framed by a need to be right. When I’ve been mis-judged, I just want to fix it. I want to be vindicated but maybe their own brokenness will prevent them from ever really hearing me.

So, what do I do with my need to be liked, respected, validated and accepted? I take my needs to the One who makes me whole in His presence.

Healer of my soul, mend the ragged edges of my soul. Amen

Taunting Of The Brothers

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He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us?” Genesis 37:6-8

Can you hear the brothers’ outrage? They were incredulous as they asked the question, “Are you indeed to reign over us?” Time gave them their answer with more than a touch of irony.  At the end of the book of Genesis, Pharaoh set Joseph in the chariot behind him, announcing him as 2nd in command of all of Egypt.

This prompts me to think of others who were incredulous as they posed their rhetorical questions.  Some time in the future, the Philistines laughed as they questioned Saul about the absurdity of a small unarmed boy taking on their Goliath.  Much later than that, chief priests, Pharisees, and the likes of Pilate posed similar questions to Jesus about His claim to be a King.  All these questions were answered by a God who reminds us that He is not predictable and nothing is impossible when He is behind it. He uses the foolish, the uneducated, the weak, the stuttering, the outnumbered, the shamed, the forgotten, the underdog, and the smallest…to glorify His name.

Who is laughing at you? Perhaps you’ve heard a rhetorical question already today. “Who do you think you are!” When God’s child knows that he is called, loved, blessed, and empowered by the Spirit of God, such confidence offends others even if clothed with humility.  It can even rub against the grain of those in the family of God.

For each who has been taunted today, know you are in good company. Do not let any man steal your confidence. Time will write your story and silence the voice of every accuser. Walk humbly with your God and without apology.

Do not let accusers undo me. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Favoritism. It’s Complicated.

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Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. Genesis 37:2-3

Favoritism can be complicated. Take Jacob and his son, Joseph. Jacob didn’t make Joseph his favorite to spite other righteous sons. Many of the others had proven themselves to be troublemakers, bound up in foolishness. They had spurned their father’s ways and had left a trail of disappointment and hurt. Jacob didn’t spoil Joseph either by giving him a life of ease. He trained him to work hard and to do so with godly ethics.

I’m not defending the fact that Jacob showed favoritism. It wasn’t right. He acted unwisely and set things up for the other sons to hate their brother. From a sibling’s perspective, favoritism never works out well.

But from a parent’s perspective, the heart is a complicated thing. It can be difficult to have the same affection for each of your children. If one is bent toward evil, disrespects authority, and has no regard for family, isn’t it difficult to love that one as much as another whose heart clearly belongs to God? It can be hard to disguise the pleasure you feel over the one that is righteous. It’s equally hard to hide the pain the other one inflicts when they act out against members of your family.

This is where each mother and father needs Jesus desperately. Only He can daily heal the hurts caused by a wayward child. Only He can give the spiritual fuel necessary to love the renegade wisely. Only He can show parents how to bestow unconditional love to two kinds of children. How will the child who loves rebellion not see the delight in his parent’s eyes over the ‘good’ sibling? God is the only one who can write the relational roadmap for these dynamics.

In the long run, Jacob should have learned from his own troubled childhood. Favoritism didn’t work out well between he and Esau. Now, he repeats it again by failing to disguise his deep affection for Joseph. He will give him a coat, the kind of coat only a royal child would wear. This will fuel the other’s hatred for their brother. In spite of Jacob’s mistakes, God’s purpose for Joseph and the future of Israel will not be thwarted. That is comforting, isn’t it?

You are the God of grace and redemption. Bind our families together in righteousness so that we still stand in the last day. In Jesus’ name, Amen

He Knew How His Words Affected Others

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Brothers and sisters, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation.  Hebrews 13:22

It’s the end of Hebrews ~  and it bears the author’s last words.  This book is far from being lightweight in content.  The hard times for Jewish believers called for weightiness but with strong encouragement comes the risk of offense.

Though we’re not told who the author is of the book of Hebrews, he calls his writing ‘an exhortation.’  In just this last chapter, there are many ‘exhortations’ that could easily offend.

  • Submit to your leaders.
  • Continually offer up praises to God.
  • Take the time to do good to others.
  • Imitate the life of your leaders.
  • Don’t be carried away by strange teachings.

With each, it’s easy to bristle.

  • Have you seen who my leader is? I should submit to the likes of him?
  • You haven’t seen my life lately. You are asking me to praise now?
  • Like I haven’t already done good to others?!
  • What’s wrong with the way I am living?
  • I’m far more stable than that!  How little do you respect me?!

An exhorter often has a tough time in the family of God.  Their Spirit-empowered gift enables them to perceive spiritual immaturity.  This person is driven to point out opportunities for spiritual growth.  Trials are met with encouragements rather than words of compassion.  Exhorters see conversations as opportunities to give spiritual help, to offer biblical perspectives on things, but with such compulsions, there can be a lot of resistance.  Rejection is continually a threat for this servant of God.

The whole book is a mouthful.  While it is beautiful in its exposition of Christ as the supreme One, it is not a book we encourage a new believer to read.  I recall New Year’s Eve – 1 year ago – when I felt God was leading me to teach this book through these daily writings.  I trembled with the responsibility.  I am no seminarian.  Yet here we are.

Thank you, God, for leading me.  Thank you, Jesus, for invading history as my perfect High Priest.  Thank you, Holy Spirit, for faithfully unveiling these scriptures so that my pen could engage with the paper.  To You be all glory.  Amen

And thank you, my dear devotional friends, for the privilege of sharing this last year’s journey with you.  May His Word always tremble with wonder in our hands.

Christine

The Yoke of Slavery

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I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you to upright. Leviticus 26:13

When ‘yoke’ is used, especially in the O.T., it speaks of slavery or bondage to an oppressor. This passage from Leviticus is one example. The Israelites were not freed from the Egyptians through a revolt, an underground movement, or a rebel who rose up to lead the people. They were powerless against a formidable oppressor. Only God could break the bands of their yoke. Bondage was all they had ever known. It was in their DNA.  Four hundred years of it had characterized the existence of the many generations before them.

I may not know this kind of slavery but I can be enslaved nonetheless to a bully, a spouse, a sibling, even an aging parent. Someone got the upper hand when I was once in a compromised position.  The relational pattern was set in stone and perhaps I don’t presently have the personal strength to shake up the dynamics. Oh, but God does. He is in me and I need not be a bully in return in order to be freed from their control. There is holy strength in quietness and resolve. There is holy strength in the man or woman who know that they answer to God first. There is holy strength in the person who is confident before a bully because the Lord is on their side.

A yoke of slavery also plagues me when I fail to leave the unholy ways of my family.  At conversion, my allegiance is to be re-defined.  How difficult though to overcome generational yokes. We are shown very early in life that there is the ‘family way of doing things’ and if you want to enjoy its community, you have to stay in step. These unholy legacies don’t just include things like infidelity, anger, alcoholism, addictive behaviors, depression or a pre-disposition to a certain disease.  There are more insidious culprits such as a hatred of men, or women, a despising of the church, and even a racial bigotry between the north and the south, the blacks and the whites, and Christians against non-Christians.

Isaiah said, Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord; Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Isaiah 51:1  The message is clear. I have been shaped by those who raised me. It is imperative that every child of God look closely at their daily choices to see if there is still a yoke to those who put pressure on us to be like them. I am to be more like my Heavenly Father than my earthly one.  My new birth trumps my initial birth.

How do I take off this yoke of slavery?  First, I ask God to expose my ungodly connections and make me willing to align with Jesus.  He will start turning on the light.  Each time I cave and cower, I repent for doing what Jesus would not do. I take new paths of righteousness armed with scripture and the power of the Spirit.  It may result in being out of step with my family of origin.  Am I willing to be the child of God that Jesus would be if He lived my life?  Only grace will enable it.  Only faith will propel it into the future.

Lord, this is the hard and steep path but oh, how blessed I will be to keep in step with You, to walk in Your footprints. Amen

A Religious Yoke

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They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them. Mattthew 23:4

Jesus came down hard on the Pharisees when He told them that they were placing a heavy burden of rules upon the people, adding more and more laws that ‘The Law’ did not include. The people labored under it. Jesus called that burden ‘heavy’ and referred to His own burden as ‘light’.

As a young monk, Martin Luther confessed that he didn’t love God, he hated Him. He felt that he just couldn’t please Him. Luther beat himself, fasted for days, slept outside in the cold, and all because He felt the guilt of his own sin. He couldn’t sleep at night because he thought, “Can I possibly do everything that God requires of me?” His mentor told him that confession is to bring relief to those burdened with guilt, not add more. But Luther was so bound up by a religious yoke that, though he confessed constantly, he found little relief. While some around him made their complete confession in just a few minutes, Luther would go on and on for hours. Nagging guilt caused him to be an overachiever; so much so that he advanced in the ranks of the monastery very quickly. It’s a reminder to me that perceived holiness is often driven by forces other than a love for Christ.

How do I know if I suffer under a religious yoke?   I have a nagging feeling that I’m not good enough. I have no peace. I don’t feel forgiven. I don’t believe I’ve paid enough yet for my sins. I feel I have a long way to go to prove to God that I’m sincere. I keep myself insanely busy to dull the ache of unworthiness. I become an overachiever with a need to eclipse the successes of those around me. I need to be God’s ‘teacher’s pet’. At that point, I am the older brother in the prodigal son story who kept all the rules but was probably only looking out for his own inheritance. He felt his father owed him; which is easy to feel if I’ve been a rule keeper. Under a religious yoke, let hard times come and my underlying attitude can be, “God, how could you? After how good I’ve been?”

If I labor under the yoke of religion, I believe that my good behavior proves to God that I’m really a good child. I am bound to the law and ignore the fact that Jesus already fulfilled it. He did it because I couldn’t. Jesus took my sin, annihilated every reason I’d have to perform, and gave me His righteousness. I’m invited to rest in my salvation.

If you suffer under the torment of a religious yoke, how do you escape it? Repent of self-exaltation and minimizing the power of the cross. Affirm again that you have been saved by faith alone – which is where Martin Luther ended up. He began to see that the scriptures were really the language of a loving Father to little children. He was free to worship and celebrate such a great God who provided such a great Salvation from self.

Break the chains of the yoke of religion where we are yet bound. Amen

The Prayer For Hard Stuff

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Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Hebrews 13:20-21 

There’s a certain kind of personality type that enjoys taking aptitude tests.  I am one of them.  I like to see how people are wired and understand why they do what they do.  My enjoyment includes the exploration of spiritual gifts.  It’s a wonderful thing for a person to discover their unique areas of giftedness; gifts that are birthed, sharpened, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

But as the book of Hebrews closes, the writer has bigger dreams for his audience.  He’s not only wanting them to do what they do well, he blesses them to be fully equipped in every area of their lives to accomplish God’s work.  He is thinking of the whole person, the one who is fully mature and spiritually well rounded.

Life isn’t just about getting to do what I enjoy doing.  I am called upon to function in a lot of roles and to work well with different kinds of people.  I can’t only hang out with people I like.  Difficult people grace my life and one or two are usually in our own families.  If I’m an impatient person, I will need to learn patience. If I’m an exhorter, I will have to learn to be quiet and to pray instead.  If I’m good at tough love, I will have to learn to be compassionate.  God asks me to be full of the Spirit around those who are angry, depressed, and grieving.  I’m also called to be full of His Spirit when others prosper and I’m in a tough season.  I will be called to do things for which I have little aptitude and, in my frustration, will others be able to tell that I love Jesus when I’m doing things  that offer little or no enjoyment?

I’m not sure Jesus had a personality type.  He was simply well-rounded because He was fully equipped by His father to fulfill His mission.  He was Spirit-filled in every area of His life and there were no gaps in His ability to function in any situation.  At 33 years of age, He had completed everything He had been sent to do and had functioned perfectly in every single relationship.  He never said the wrong thing.  He never had to offer an apology.

Even now, in my sixties, I still see areas of impairment.  Though my limps have been tempered through the years, emotionally and spiritually, I am still working on them.  I would like to say that I am fully equipped and mature but I’m not.  Oh, that I could always be Spirit-filled!  I am aware, even this morning, that today holds things for which I must ask for special graces to accomplish.  At the end of the day, I will offer a prayer of thanks for the supernatural breath from the Spirit who rose up to help me in my time of need.

Day by day, I learn more about grace and Your faithfulness.  Amen

 

 

 

 

Cure For A Nagging Conscience

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Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably in everything we do. Hebrews 13:18

Generally speaking, my conscience is my moral compass.  It will let me know when I violate what I know to be right.  While it is often reliable, it isn’t 100% accurate. If I was raised in a culture where bigotry was commonplace, I would grow up to discriminate with a clear conscience.  That’s scary!  And if I was raised around people who loved to inflict guilt, no matter how good I was, I never felt good enough. As an adult, I suffer from an overly sensitive guilt trigger and believe it’s the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Peace is never mine to enjoy.

It is possible to have a clear conscience.  It is possible to be free of self-condemnation.  It is possible to live at peace with God and with myself. The one who wrote Psalm 139 points me to the source of internal rest.   “You discern my thoughts from far away.  Even before a word is on my tongue, O LORD, you know it completely” Psalm 139:2-4 The One who is holy is the only One qualified to shape my conscience.  I need Him because, though He created me with a conscience that knows right from wrong, the Fall of mankind has marred its reliability.  My Heavenly Father examines my heart, and the flow of my thoughts, and helps me sort them out according to His wisdom and righteousness.  I don’t need to be afraid of the One who can see clear through me.  Though He is holy, He is also Love.

Have you ever been uncomfortable in someone’s presence because you felt like they were studying you?  Their gaze was penetrating and invasive.  But Peter did not feel this way when Jesus looked at him.  On the shore of the sea of Galilee, he said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” John 21:17 Although he had recently denied Jesus, he knew Jesus could see the remorse in his heart.  He was not afraid of Love, even though intimate.

Guilt is a complicated thing and drives many to counseling.  But I can count on this.  God promises a clear conscience.  God’s Spirit is within me to convict me of sin and also assure me of sinlessness.  Satan’s guilt is tormenting, vague, and promises no end.  God’s conviction is precise, points to a particular offense, and offers closure on the other side of repentance.  His Word is my mirror, the only reliable rudder against the voice of the great deceiver of this age.

Peace with You.  Rest in Your presence.  These are mine as I live a cross centered life.  Amen

Do I Have To?

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Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”  Hebrews 13:17

Do those who are in authority over me feel glad that I am in their lives?  Is my pastor pleased that I am in his church?  Is my spouse happy that I am married to him?  Have my employers been grateful that I’ve worked for their company?   Hopefully, the collective answer is yes.  But if ‘yes’, then why?

It might be because I like and respect them.  It’s easier to defer under those conditions. Oh, but when they are foolish, it is instinctive to be contentious and confrontational. I get my back up and resent my duty to submit.  I might even find ways to circumvent their orders.

I recall that the Apostle Paul instructed slaves to be good slaves to their masters.  He didn’t tell them to defer only if their masters deserved their allegiance.  In light of this consistent biblical precedent, this scripture from Hebrews highlights some interesting side notes.

  1. We are to obey those who have rule over us. (But, obeying God takes precedence if we are told to do something God would forbid.)
  2. The ones who have authority over us watch for our souls. (Some watch over us well while others give no thought to our well being.)
  3. Each one in leadership will give an account. Those who lead well will be rewarded.  Those who cause their people to suffer will not get away with it.  (Our part is to obey God and leave the outcome to Him.)

While talking with a woman recently about her marriage, she shared that her husband is a poor spiritual leader in their home. She made the comment, “It’s hard to show respect to someone ungodly, one who does not consider me to be a person of any value!”  Most likely, we will all know what this is like sometime in our lives; to be invisible, despised, unappreciated, to be held in low regard.  These are the very things that make it hard to submit to bad authority.  If I am struggling today, I have to remember that the person with whom I struggle is under God’s authority.  He may not acknowledge it but he is.  He, or she, will give an account of how they failed to represent God.

And, I am under God’s authority.  I am His child and I am under His umbrella. I know where to go home to heal from the wounds of injustice and the abuses of poor shepherding.  I heal in the embrace of the One who owns me and calls me precious.  He leads me and He serves me.  There is nothing He has not already experienced.  I am safe and I am of infinite value.

I choose to live above my feelings and, by faith, obey Your order of things.  I am yours and that joy is enough. Amen

I Am a Lattice of Windows

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And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.  Hebrews 13:16

How vast are the effects of obeying this verse but only if I understand what God is asking me to do.  It’s not just stopping to help someone carry a heavy package, or taking someone a meal, or even making a hospital visit.  ‘To do good’ means to show someone else the same kindness and favor that God showed to me.  I am to receive and then transmit what I received.  I am a conduit and the point of doing good is to leave an aroma of God, not myself.

A lot of people do good things and simple kindnesses are powerful, certainly.  But without God behind them, the effects are earthbound.  If I am to receive first, then transmit, I must experience the lovingkindess of His blessing.  May the Lord bless and keep you, may the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and be gracious to you, and bring you peace.  Numbers 6:24-26  The Hebrew picture of lifting up a countenance is one of a father holding up a child in order to adore him.  God’s blessing starts with His delight.

Screen Shot 2020-01-22 at 7.57.56 AMWhen the priest raises his hands to pronounce this well-known blessing from the book of Numbers, he faces his palms downward and touches his thumbs together.  The four fingers on each hand are split into two sets of two fingers each and this hand formation is called ‘the overlapping lattice of windows.’  Their tradition says that the Divine Presence will shine through the fingers of the priests as they bless the people.  King David asked God specifically for this blessing.  Make your face to shine upon your servant. Psalm 31:16  David was down and needed to feel the impact of God’s kindness.

As I am blessed, humbly blessed, I am told to rise, then go and communicate this same blessing to another person.  The particular deed isn’t as important as the Divine Presence of God that I take with me.  It’s the humility with which I love another.  It’s communicating what is often unspoken.  “God has loved me so much and I want you to feel that too.”

Lord, I don’t want to waste even one gesture of kindness.  Bless me and let me bless others in the overflow.  Amen